War
by flameretardant
Summary: Discontinued as it stands - it will be edited because this Tai is too girly/fem-boy IMHO when he's interacting with Matt. He needs to stand up more and be more MALE.
1. Chapter 1

Warnings: This fic deals with racism. There are some characters in here who sound like they could've come straight out of Nazi-germany. This fic was semi-inspired by how many blondes/redheads there are in anime even though most Japanese are black-haired & pale-skinned. I also wanted to write something with Tai & Matt on opposite sides of a war.

It will probably stay a WIP 'cus I think I'm bored of it now. We'll see.

Yamachi, as always.

I don't know anything about real Japanese politics and I don't care to learn because this is just a piece of fiction.

The _image_ of what it meant to be Japanese was changing. When you turned on the news now, instead of the traditional dark-haired, dark-eyed, pale young woman it was always a blonde with blue eyes. Prominent politicians looked like they could have landed in Japan from Sweden yesterday, all big, broad and light-haired, instead of the smaller, pale but dark-haired Japanese man. Rarely did you see a black-haired government official – the higher up in the ranks you went, the more Nordic looking they became. Even lowly civil servants rarely were any darker than light brown hair or amber eyes.

It had not happened over night, but over the course of the decades that President Purple had been in power. That was strange too for a democracy. Usually a president was elected for 2 terms; in Japan that meant a maximum of 10 years. But President Purple had been in control for nearly 25 years now.

Tai noticed the strangeness first when he was around 8 years old; his best friend Matt started staying after school for a special class. He didn't think much of it; Matt was smart – maybe smart kids were taking harder stuff? Then the Saturday afternoon classes started as well. Tai didn't know what to make of it. That was strange because Joe or Izzy were not in those classes but their grades were much better than Matt's.

He didn't give it much thought until he walked Matt to his Saturday class one day after they spent the afternoon kicking around a football. He'd asked Matt what happened in there, not that he wanted to go to class on a Saturday or anything, but just because he was curious. The other boy had invited him along to come check it out.

Tai was laughing and joking around with his buddy as they walked into the Ouran Private School building. But he stopped outside the door to Matt's classroom as he saw the kids inside. Even at nine, he instinctively knew that he didn't quite fit in. It took him a minute to figure out what it was – even though the kids inside were chattering and behaving like any other class full of 9 year olds, they did not _look_ Japanese. This was a class full of blondes.

Since President Purple's election, Japan had gone through a peculiar change in its immigration policy. Europeans especially those with distant Japanese ancestors were enticed into moving to Japan with promises of a wonderful new life. At the same time Japan tightened its borders against anyone of Asian or African descent. Thus in any given week, you might see half a dozen or so naturally light-haired folks in Odaiba; not counting the police officers who all had some shade of red or light-brown hair. Even so blondes were a rarity– this was a whole class filled with them, about 100 kids in all.

Tai knew Matt had only one Japanese ancestor: his dad's grandfather was Japanese; the rest of his family was English or German. His mother and father moved to Japan soon after they married - the government was giving away free homes for Europeans of Japanese descent in prestigious neighborhoods with promise of free education and high-ranking job offers.

So Matt's parents, Malcolm and Nancy, made a comfortable life for themselves in their new country and Nancy gave birth to Matt a year after they moved to Odaiba. They lived in mostly segregated areas with other foreign-blooded Japanese. It wasn't surprising that they had a lot more in common with other European immigrants but Nancy had wanted her sons to learn of their Japanese heritage. So instead of attending the separate European-immigrant only private school with other children from their neighborhood, Matt and TK were enrolled in public school for years. That is where Tai had met and subsequently befriended Matt.

A blonde woman, a teacher from the looks of her, came up to Matt and Tai as they stood outside the door. "Hello Matt, who is this you have with you?" Tai could hear the odd strain in her voice; he noticed the way she was eyeing him distrustfully.

"He's my friend from day-school. He wanted to know what we do here every Saturday. I told him to come check it out."

"Oh dear, I don't think that would be appropriate – he doesn't quite _fit_, does he? And anyway, this is your _friend_? He certainly doesn't _look_ like a friend of yours. There are so many other children in our class Matt. Why don't you pick one of them to be your friend instead?" She had ignored Tai through the entire thing.

Tai didn't understand what she was saying.

"I like Tai & that's it!" Matt was petulant at being told what to do. The woman gave Matt a disapproving glare & ordered him into the class. Matt turned helplessly to go towards his seat, waving a quick goodbye to Tai as he left.

Then the woman turned to Tai, venom and spite in her eyes. "Boy – you better run home. I think it's best if you don't see Matt anymore. You're not proper company for someone of his caliber."

The teacher turned away shaking her head in disgust. _Oh. My. God. _That child had come straight from some field. He looked even lower than the pure-blooded Japanese she disliked so much but could tolerate in small doses; atleast they were pale. This boy was probably some kind of low class Indian with his brown skin and the bushy hair on his head. It would not do for Matt, one of the brightest students in her class and a shining example of Japan's future ruling class, to associate with someone like that. She called Matt's parents right after class.

"Yes hello Mr. Ishida – I'd like you to know that I think it's best if your sons moved to Ouran full-time. They're absolutely capable of handling the course-work here & I believe they'd be around more appropriate companions."

"Yes, other children of foreign-Japanese – they would understand each other better, might make for a more rounded youth. Yes, very good… No I think the curriculum might be too simple for them at their old school… He will do much better here, I assure you... Good – we'll transfer him right away."

The next Monday, Matt and TK had both been moved to Ouran Private School. Nancy's protest had been feeble at best – Matt's teacher had said Ouran had a better curriculum than any other place. Besides they lived in Japan. Surely, the boys would be exposed to enough Japanese culture that way.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This story is so weird to write because I don't care about politics at all.

It's really strange for me to think something like world could exist but I think about Slavery in the US and how it was pretty arbitrarily based on skin-color. And I think about the people in Rwanda with the Tsutsi and the Hutus and how they were divided based on skin color too. And ofcourse there is Adolf Hitler and his obsession with creating a Germany with only blue-eyed blondes.

My villain, President Purple, is very much Adolf Hitler for Japan I guess.

If you can't tell from my writing, Matt: blond, blue-eyed is at the top of the totem-pole;

Tai: dark-skinned (he and Daisuke are the darkest of the characters), dark-eyed, dark-haired is at the bottom.

Over the 13 years since Tai's visit to Ouran Private School that Saturday afternoon, Japan had changed for the worse. There was no pretense of a democratic government anymore. President Purple refused to relinquish control of the government. He had created a full-on fascist nation, with a hierarchy based on something as arbitrary as the color of one's skin, hair and eyes. Blue-eyed blondes were at the top, then came redheads, followed by people with light-brown hair. The prototypical black-haired pale-skinned Japanese were second to last on the totem pole. Only dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed people were below them.

Tai trudged through the pawn shop and into the back to climb up to the dingy apartment where he lived with his sister & mother. They had been forced to move from their old apartment after Tai's dad was killed in a bombing involving his office.

Even before President Purple declared himself the dictator of Japan, there was a rising threat of civil war from the common Japanese masses. Things just got worse after President Purple's declaration and the rebels routinely started bombing buildings in government districts to force the government to meet their demands. They had little success with this strategy. Instead there where whispers that the government retaliated by bombing several buildings suspected to be under rebel control. Tai's family did not know if it was the rebels or the government who had bombed the building where his father worked. Kari and his mother did not seem to care very much; the end result was the same in either case.

"Did you get a full day today?" Kari asked as he came in the door. He was covered in dust from the construction site so she knew atleast that he had managed to find some work. He had been gone 12 hours but that did not mean he had worked 12 hours – sometimes, he could wander the streets for hours, going from one construction site to another to see if anyone would hire him.

"Yea – they're putting up a new tower by the river. I managed to get there early so they hired me for the full day." He passed a handful of money to his mother in the kitchen; she carefully put the money into a tin jar on top of their decrepit old refrigerator.

"Tai – you stink. Go take a shower, stinky-pants!" Kari pushed her brother to their small bathroom. They were fortunate enough to have running water tonight, although ofcourse it would be cold.

When Tai came out of the bathroom, Kari was setting the table with 3 plates & forks – dinner was a simple affair – some rice, with a little chicken stew left over from yesterday and some pie his mother had baked that afternoon. They ate in silence, all of them too tired from their long days to try and make conversation. After dinner, Tai headed into his bedroom to try and get some sleep for another exhausting day tomorrow.

Kari & her mother did the dishes in the kitchen, not that there was much to do. They were startled from their easy silence when there was a knock at the door.

Kari opened the door and in walked Matt Ishida, dressed in army greens. He had grown up to look like a combination of his mother and father – a tall broad shouldered young man with piercing blue eyes and true blonde hair. He was the face of 'Future leaders of Japan'.

"Hello Matt," Mrs Kamiya called from the kitchen. "It's been a long time since we have seen you. It's too bad you didn't come earlier, you just missed dinner. Are you shipping out to the army base today?"

Matt was going to become an officer for the army as did all the children of Japanese foreigners who looked like him. But because Matt had done so well in his tactics classes, he was to be a commander right away instead of starting at the rank of Captain.

"Yes, that's right. I wanted to talk to talk to Tai before leaving."

"He's in his room – just came back from a 12 hour shift at the new building site. Go on in and see if you can wake him up enough to talk to you."

_Matt's pov _

Matt knocked on the door and walked in to find Tai at his computer. His hair was still slightly damp from the shower and he was wearing a ratty t-shirt and some pajamas.

The brunette looked over his shoulder at the blonde in his uniform. His eyebrow was raised questioningly.

"So you're leaving now, huh?"

"Yeah – the car is coming to pick me up in an hour."

"Why are you here? You know how I feel about you going off to join the army and siding with those fascist pigs."

Matt didn't want to get into this argument again with his best-friend. They had known each other for almost two decades now; when they had turned old enough to have opinions on Japan's political landscape, the differences between them became hugely pronounced. Tai supported the rebels, supported needless chaos and destruction. Matt knew it was because Tai had never learnt the things he had in school – but it was up to Matt to show up him the way to a brighter future.

"I am not here to fight with you about this." Matt walked over to Tai, turned his chair around and then sat down on the ground on one knee in front of the brunette. He stared up into beautiful dark brown eyes as he gathered up the courage for what he was going to do.

"I want to ask you something much more important." He reached up and cupped the brunette's cheek, lightly rubbing his thumb over his lower lip. Red instantly flooded Tai's cheeks and he shifted his eyes away from Matt.

"W-what are you doing?" Tai mumbled, refusing to look Matt in the eyes again.

"I want you to marry me." Matt was pretty happy that he had managed to keep his hands from shaking with nervousness as he pulled out a platinum ring with a diamond inset. His mother had helped him pick it out – said it wasn't too girly for Tai but still beautiful.

"What?" Tai backed his chair away from the blond and stood up as fast as he could, leaving Matt kneeling on the floor, holding the ring. The blond stood as well, and started to approach the blushing brunette; Tai turned his back to him.

Matt pressed himself flush against the shorter man, drawing him protectively into his arms. His hands worked themselves around Tai waist and found Tai's left hand, pushing the ring onto his ring finger. He buried his face in soft dark hair and breathed in Tai's shower fresh scent.

"I love you Tai – and I have come to hope that you love me too. Say that you'll make me the happiest man in the world." Matt knew that this was coming from the left-field for Tai. But the blond had reason to hope thing would go according to plan.

On one occasion they had been drunk enough that Matt couldn't stop himself from kissing Tai. He remembered the way the brunette had pressed up against him in surrender, his face becomingly flushed and soft moans and gasps leaving his throat as the blond explored the sinful mouth beyond those soft lips. How he had wanted to take Tai to the nearest horizontal surface that night six months ago and just claim the brunette for himself. But he had resisted, knowing that Tai would regret it in the morning.

After that evening, things had gone back to normal. However, once in a while, when they were alone in private, Matt would stare at the shorter man without shame & Tai would turn away embarrassed and run off to a more public spot. Matt had even caught Tai staring at him questioningly a couple of times; but Tai would just turn away, his cheeks beet red and start sputtering bring up some inane conversation. Matt was content to take things slow and never pushed things to see where he could take them. Tai was too precious for Matt to rush into anything and in the meantime, there were plenty of others who willingly spread their legs for him. But when the order came for him to ship out 3 years earlier than he thought it would, he knew he wouldn't have the luxury of courting the brunette as he wanted to before their union. _I'll make it up to you_, Matt promised Tai silently.

Tai was still in his arms for a few minutes. He was looking down at the ring, so white against his dark finger. Matt felt him stiffen in his arms and then Tai pulled away.

"I have known you a long time. And I have loved you almost as long. I have wanted what you're offering forever. But you're going to fight against everything I believe in." Tai's back was still turned to Matt, but the blond could hear the tired note in his voice. This was what he was afraid their big argument would be – atleast Tai had decided not to waste their time with another bullshit argument about their lack of a relationship. The brunette was not naïve enough to ignore how protective and possessive was of him, wouldn't try to deny that Matt loved him atleast.

Matt decided to start with the most pragmatic approach. "Tai – whether you like it or not, Japan is changing. I know you believe in the rebel groups and I know you think we're all going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya one day but we are not. Foreign Japanese are become stronger and stronger politically – what you hope for is impossible."

Tai whilrled back to him; this time his cheeks were flushed in anger. "You don't know that!"

Matt surveyed him calmly. "You're right – I don't know that. But I do know what I saw in the training barracks – women like your sister servicing row after row of soldiers. If she were from another family, she might do well because she is light-haired and light-eyed. But she has you for a brother and I don't need to tell you what any employer will tell her if she applies for a job. So what will happen to Kari now that we're on the brink of civil war? Her father is dead, her brother is a dark-skinned construction worker, her mother washes other people's clothes till her hands bleed for a living. And it won't just be the army soldiers who get at her – the rebels will try to take her too and you won't be able to do much to stop either side."

"Shut up!" Tai crowded up into Matt's space and grabbed his collar threateningly. Matt stayed unperturbed, knowing that he'd need to force the brunette to accept the situation. So he continued.

"What about your mother? Do you think she enjoys working so hard in her middle-years? But she can't stop can she? You know she will be working till the day she dies if you deny me." He wrapped his arms around Tai, pulling the brunette closer and tilting his chin up so he could look into the beautiful face.

"And what about you?" He whispered softly against Tai's forehead. "After the war breaks out, do you think you'll find any more of the work that you do? Who will hire you after they look at you? What will you do to support your family then?" Surprisingly Tai stayed quiet in Matt's arms; Matt hoped he was starting to see the logic in this proposal. Really this was the Kamiya's best option.

"I can save you and your family from all the pain when civil war breaks out. It will be hard for my superiors to accept you as my consort but I am valuable enough for them to excuse my marrying a darkie."

Matt reeled back in shock at the punch across his jaw. Tai may have been only 5'9 to Matt's 6'1 but he could still throw a punch.

"You bastard!" Tai punched him again, this time in his stomach. "You come in here with your superiority complex, talking about saving me from some deep dark ending. You expect me to be happy that you're taking me despite the skin I was born with, as if it was a heinous crime on my part." He turned his back to the blonde again. "This is not the Matt I knew when we met – that godforsaken Ouran Academy has changed you into a monster."

Tai turned back to Matt again, this time holding the ring in his open palm. "The answer is no."

Instead of taking the ring, Matt grabbed the extended hand and pulled the brunette into his arms. He quickly tilted Tai's chin up and kissed him, his other arm wrapped tightly around his waist to ensure that the brunette couldn't pull away. Tai's muffled screams soon turned into a sweet moan and the shorter man seemed to forget to fight against him. Instead, his fingers clutched the green material of Matt's shirt as the blond claimed his mouth.

It might've been a cliché but Matt was finding it difficult to pull away from Tai's lips: he was a soldier going off to fight a war after all and Tai would be waiting for him to come back safe. He hoped anyway.

Just before Tai's sighs from his kisses and the bed nearby got to be too much of a temptation for him, Matt pulled away. The brunette threw his head back and Matt couldn't resist the temptation to leave a possessive hickey on the smooth brown column of his throat. "Nnnghh…. Ma-aattt…" Matt couldn't help the satisfied smirk at the soft sigh from Tai. He pressed his mouth against Tai again in a soul-searing exploration of his mouth, his tongue flicking in and out of the brunette's mouth in a parody of how he wanted to join their bodies even more intimately. Still, he knew this was not the right time so he forced himself to let Tai go completely and stepped away to put some distance between their bodies.

Matt took the ring from Tai and then gently bent down to kiss his left hand. "I'm going to be back in 6 months. You'll have seen enough by then to know this is the best for everyone." Tai opened his mouth to protest as Matt stood back up to his full height and slowly slid the ring back to its intended place on that slender brown hand.

"Keep it on until you see me again – it'll keep you safer – if you're in trouble with the guards, show it to them and tell them to bring you to me."

Without waiting for the brunette to reply, he walked out of the room. He nodded his head at Kari and Mrs. Kamiya as he slipped out their front door. While things could have gone better, they certainly could have gone a lot worse. Matt felt certain that when he returned, Tai would have lost enough naivety to accept him.

Tai was sitting on his bed, staring at the ring on his finger. That man made the simplest things so complicated. Tai knew he hated the current Japanese government and Matt was the poster-child for the very thing he hated – it should have been the easiest thing in the world to take that damn ring off his finger & throw it out the window. Or maybe sell it at the pawn-shop.

But try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Each time he'd tried in the half hour since Matt left his room, he would remember the blonde's solid body holding his, so protective and loving. Tai was always so used to being the strong one & fighting for his sister & mother that he almost wanted to give into the blond. And he had been honest when he hold Matt he loved him.

He pushed his treacherous thoughts away and got up to see what his mother and sister were doing in the living room. They were both settled on the couch, watching television. A commercial about a fairness cream was playing on the screen. But neither Kari nor his mother were paying attention to it, focused as they were on him.

He blushed as he met his mother's stare. The walls in this apartment were thin. She had probably heard everything.

"Tai – you could do a lot worse," Mrs. Kamiya's voice was frank. "If you feel something for him, then you should swallow your pride and accept him. He will keep you and your sister safe." She was not the idealist her son was – she didn't know much about politics but didn't feel she needed to; although the rebels out-numbered the government soldiers by 10:1, the government had much more advanced weaponry. The coming war would leave Japan in a ravaged state and Mrs. Kamiya felt fairly certain that Matt was the best way to keep not only her son but her daughter out of harm's way as well.

Tai stared at his mother, not believing what he was hearing from her. "Mom, he thinks it's ok that people who look like us are treated like dirt. How can I agree to this?"

"No matter what you think of history son, it's the winning side who writes what is morality. I'd much rather see you on the winning side and alive than dead on the losing side and clutching your morals."

Tai turned to his sister who had stayed silent while their mother voiced her opinion. "What do you think Kari?"

She turned her eyes up to him; they were a beautiful honey-amber, fringed by long light brown eyelashes. "I don't see that you have much choice in the matter. He wants you and he can take you anytime. He is being a gentleman by atleast going through the formality of asking. But make no mistake, when he comes back, he will not stop until you belong to him."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This is probably a weird story to read – it's definitely a strange one to write but I SOO SOOO SOOO wanted to write Matt & Tai on two sides of a war. Yolei comes in this part – this is KenxYolei because I hate stories where every character is in a gay relationship. Most of the other characters in this story will probably be hetero relationships too.

Oh, btw – TK will definitely be straight.

There is no MattxTai action in this part. According to the plan, that's next in Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 3**

Tai pulled his threadbare coat tighter around himself as he walked down the dimly alley towards his home. It had been another fruitless day of wandering, hoping maybe someone would hire him for some menial labor with no luck. Unable to face going home empty handed to the gaunt faces of his mother and sister, he went through the butcher's dumpster and picked out the bones and entrails that were thrown out. He wrapped up his meager findings in some newspaper and hoped that his mother would be able to do something with them.

A couple of months passed since Matt proposed to him – the civil war finally started two weeks ago. At first, Tai was thrilled that the Japanese masses were fighting back against its oppressive government. Then more concrete concerns began to set in – like finding work and putting food on the table. Matt had been right about one thing – construction work came to a dead stop as soon as the war began. A lot of small businesses also shut down. Of the few businesses still left, none were hiring, especially not someone like Tai. He was as much the poster-child for the rebels as Matt was for the government - no business wanted to be labeled rebel-sympathizer and risk being bombed.

Tai had almost reached the pawn-shop when he noticed the strange figure stumbling into the dark alley behind him, away from the busier main road. The person was wrapped up in several layers, a scarf wound around their face – Tai couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. But the figure was having a hard time staying standing, collapsing at the side of the building just at the mouth of the alley.

He heard the whistles before he saw the army soldiers run past the mouth of the alley – obviously they were looking for someone – probably a rebel. Most likely the stranger passed out in the alley – and judging from how many soldiers were running around, the rebel must have been someone important.

He had two choices: he could ignore the person and go inside – lock the doors and hope that the soldiers would not bother him or his family. But if the soldiers found the rebel hiding in the alley, there was no telling what they could do to everyone who lived there. This was one of the poorest neighborhoods, populated by the darkest people in Odaiba – there would be no protests if the army burnt the whole place down. His other choice was to help the rebel. Ofcourse if he was caught, he would be killed on the spot, no questions asked.

Tai was galvanized into action as he saw one of the army soldiers stare a little too long into the alley. _They can't find a rebel here!_ He thanked the dim lighting and stayed close to the shadows as he made his way to the slumped body near the mouth of the alley. As he got closer, he saw the long straggly purple hair hanging out from below the cap and got a clearer look at the pale face; it was a woman. The rebel let out a little moan of pain as Tai dropped by her side.

"Quiet," he whispered almost inaudibly. "The soldiers are right around the corner."

He lifted her slight frame into his arms and slinked towards his apartment as quietly as he could. He paused at the back-door to the pawn-shop, checking to make sure no one else was in the alley before he slipped noiselessly inside. He climbed as silently as he could to the second story apartment where his sister waited for him on the stoop, kerosene lamp in her hand. The woman in his arms had passed out by now but her hands were still wrapped around a big gray bag she clutched to her chest.

"Who is that Tai? What is she doing here?" Kari's voice was a harsh whisper as she saw the bundle in her brother's arms. She quickly shut the door behind them.

Tai gently lowered the woman to the couch then turned to look at the terrified faces of his mother and sister.

"I don't know who she is but army soldiers were looking for her. You know I couldn't let them find her here – both of you remember what happened to 33rd Street when they found that rebel leader hiding there."

"So what are we going to do with her?" His mother asked.

Tai didn't know and he admitted it. He reluctantly moved onto the other topic that needed to be addressed: "I had to go through the butcher's dumpster tonight." He pulled out the ratty newspaper containing almost inedible meat and gave it to his mother. She would know he hadn't found work today either. The 12th day in a row.

Mrs. Kamiya took the package from him and silently got to work in the kitchen. With gunshots outside, they could not afford to draw attention to themselves by turning on lights. Instead, the drapes were tightly closed and there were 2 kerosene lamps burning in the house. One in the kitchen where Mrs. Kamiya used the entrails and bones to make a thin stew. The other in the living room, where Kari fumed silently as she and Tai tended to the rebel woman's injuries.

She was dirty and scratched up but mostly unharmed, except for a deep gash on her leg. When they had stripped her of her clothing to clean her wounds, Tai could tell that she was thin but relatively well-nourished. She was younger than he first thought – looked to be about Kari's age, 19. Her pale face was pretty; her natural light purple hair was the sort of thing President Purple would call 'uniquely beautiful'.

"Why is a Foreign-Jap like her running from the army soldiers?" Kari voiced his thoughts exactly. They'd both have to wait till morning for answers though because there was no way the woman would wake up now, passed out as she was from exhaustion.

Their mother called them to eat in the kitchen and the three made a quick meal out of the entrail stew and the last of their bread. Mrs. Kamiya took some stew over to the girl afterwards and forced some down her throat as Tai and Kari looked through her bag to see if they could find out who she was. There was no identity card in there or on her person. But they found building plans with detailed bombing guides and lists for future air-strikes, with the government seal on them.

So this girl had stolen war plans from the army – no wonder they were chasing her. Tai and Kari shared a look between themselves. This was no ordinary rebel. They silently agreed to keep that detail from their mother – no need for her to worry when there was nothing she could do.

_**W-A-R**_

The next morning, Tai woke at sunrise to the smell of warm bread in his nostrils; he knew he must be still dreaming. His family had not had breakfast in months. But when the enticing aroma wouldn't leave after a few moments, he got out of bed and went to the kitchen to see what was happening.

He was almost sure he was hallucinating. His mother was slathering delicious strawberry jam onto thick slices of nutty bread.

"Tai, you're awake!" There was a lightness in his mother's voice he hadn't heard in a while.

"Wow mom – where did that come from?" He looked pointedly at the heat still rising off the bread.

"Ermmm… that was from me… to say thank you for what you did last night." Tai was momentarily startled by the voice coming from the living room.

"You're the one who brought me here, right?" The young purple-haired woman was sitting up in the sofa, smiling gratefully at him.

"Yes – I'm Tai."

"I know. Your mom said you found me in the alley and carried me up. Thank you. You probably saved my life." They looked awkwardly at each other for a second before the woman extended her hand forward for a handshake.

"I'm Yolei, by the way."

"So why is a Foreign-Jap like you acting like a rebel?" The question came from Kari, who came out of her room to stand in front of the couch and look down suspiciously at Yolei.

"Not all of us Foreign-Japs agree with what the government is doing." She took a moment to compose herself and then told them her story. "Before the war started, I fell in love with a Japanese man who worked in my dad's lab. We were secretly married. My dad works for the army and was not happy about our relationship when he found out. He fired my husband, and locked me in the house – he tried to force us to stay apart and told me never to see him again. But we were able to communicate through a friend who was a courier."

She struggled to keep her voice steady. "The other day, I overheard my dad talking to one of the Commanders in the army about bombing a rebel base in Hiroshima. I was so frightened - the last message I received from my husband came from Hiroshima. So I snuck into my dad's office two days ago and stole whatever plans I could find. I ran away from home."

"Dad didn't take long to figure out what I did because within a couple of hours, there were 'Wanted' signs of me everywhere. Ken, my husband, told me in one of his messages that there is a safe-house somewhere in this neighborhood that I could come to if I was ever in danger from the army. I must get to that house and get the plans to the rebels as soon as possible so they know what the army is planning."

"Hey here's some delicious breakfast thanks to our guest," Mrs. Kamiya's voice was forcedly cheerful as she brought over the dish piled with bread. Tai could feel his mother's eyes on him as she turned to hand him a slice, willing him not to do anything stupid or make any promises.

Nothing else was said about the topic at breakfast; instead Yolei told them stories of her childhood – and her marriage.

After breakfast, Tai went to his room to change into something he could wear out for the day. He was surprised when his mother entered the room after a perfunctory knock, not waiting for him to respond.

"Don't you DARE think about joining the rebels," Her eyes were blazing with anger and then softened with pain. "Kari & I already lost your father – we can't lose you too."

"Mom…," Tai came up to his mother and wrapped his arms around her. She sobbed into his neck and clutched at his shoulders, trying to make him stay. He knew he had to make her understand that this was the only option left. "We don't have any food – we don't have any money. No one is hiring you for cleaning or laundry. There is no job-site that will take me. If this keeps up, we're going to starve. Or Kari will end up on the streets selling herself for a crust of bread. Please don't ask me to watch us go through this."

Mrs. Kamiya calmed down for a second. "You have another choice." She looked up into his dark face. Her daughter may have been more conventionally attractive but her son was something special. His huge dark eyes stared at her out of his narrow face with his high cheekbones and heart-shaped mouth. She understood why Yamato Ishida would want him. She took Tai's left hand in hers, pressing her fingers against the ring and tried to get him to see reason. "Don't deny Matt anymore. I know it will kill your pride to do this. But please… this is for all of our survival."

_**W-A-R**_

Four months later, Mrs. Kamiya was just finishing up a batch of laundry when she heard a knock on the door. It was the middle of the day so it could not be Tai; Kari had recently found some work in a production line at a steel factory so it was not her either. She dreaded admitting it to herself but knew she had no choice but to answer the insistent knocking.

"Hello Matt." The blond looked exactly as he had the last time she had seen him. Dressed in army greens, tall, broad-shouldered but slender with long arms and legs. He looked like the picture of health. So unlike the rest of the people in this neighborhood. His hair, skin and eyes were not the only reason he stood out.

"Mrs. Kamiya, I'm sure you know why I have come. I know Tai probably won't be home but I could not wait…," He looked around hopefully.

She took a deep breath and readied herself. "Tai has joined the rebels." Her son would not be happy with what she had done but she knew that if Tai was caught by the army, Matt would be his best chance at survival.

Matt did not react. "I see. And when did this happen?"

"Two months after you joined the rebels, there was a young woman who was running from the army – he helped her escape and has not returned since." She left the part about him routinely bringing back supplies for them and their neighbors out. There was no need to help the army catch him.

She hoped fervently that her instincts had been right about Matt not hurting her or Kari. Not only had she known this boy since he was child, Matt also desperately loved Tai and would not do anything to alienate him.

"Well… Mrs. Kamiya, the right course of action would have been to report this to the army ages ago. However since you have not seen him for many months and since you have not been harboring a rebel yourself, I suppose we can let this small incident slide for once. I won't be taking up any more of your time then." He turned around to go but just before the door shut behind him, he whispered.

"Tell your son he is fighting against the inevitable."

_**W-A-R**_

TK could see the anger radiating off his brother and commander as he came down the stairs from the shabby apartment building. "What happened?"

Matt didn't even bother to look at TK. "Order a constant guard around this house. Set up a standing order for any dark-skinned brunette rebel to be brought to my tent immediately following capture," He clenched his fists. "I want him caught by the end of the month."


End file.
